DETROIT (WWJ) -- Detroit Animal Care and Control is about to get a brand new, state-of-the art shelter and office building, city officials announced on Monday.
DACC officials say they’ve been hampered in recent years by overcrowding, and a solution is coming in the form of a $5-million, 30,000-square-foot shelter that will cap off a long list of recent operational improvements and help get more dogs and cats off the city’s streets.
The facility will be located at Ferry and Russell Roads, near Wayne County’s new criminal justice complex and the I-75/I-94 interchange.
Officials on Monday announced plans for the new facility, which will nearly double the size of the current building. It will up the number of kennels from 86 to 200, significantly expanding the capacity for boarding cats and dogs the DACC brings in. It will also have larger outdoor areas for dog runs.
The facility will even be complete with a modern, new veterinary medical clinic with better amenities and more space to provide higher-level care and treatment.
DACC has been applauded for making strides in improving care and operations in recent years, including a much-needed expansion of operating hours, a free citywide hotline, clinics for vaccines and rabies shots, and more. That includes maintaining a status as a “no-kill shelter” for nearly two years.
DACC has had a 93% Live Release Rate in 2021 and the shelter’s continued focus on medical care, adoption events and agreements with multiple rescues resulting in transfers have added to the increase of the live release rate.
Detroit Animal Care hosts adoption events regularly, at least two a month, to help get animals into loving homes. In the past six months, nearly 1,000 dogs and 270 cats have been adopted out, officials said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan acknowledged the DACC staff “for the great progress they have made recently under difficult conditions.”
“The team at Animal Care and Control have done tremendous work to pick up more loose dogs, educate pet owners and significantly increase their live release rate,” Duggan said. “The one thing that has been missing is a new facility. When this new shelter is completed, the DACC staff, as well as residents and animals will have the type of first-class facility they deserve.”
Construction is expected to begin in early 2022 and take about 18 months to complete. The plan still needs approval from Detroit City Council.
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